Westerners are happier people, if a new survey is to be believed. The Gallup-Healthways Well-Being Index just completed a huge survey of over 350,000 Americans, and they found that folks who live in Western cities are some of the happiest and healthiest in the nation.
173. Bakersfield, CA – Things just haven’t been the same since Buck Owens passed on.
Dcn Dale 122. Fresno, CA Fresno gets kidded a lot which is OK with me. It’s the only big city in California where you can still commute in a reasonable amount of time even during rush hour.
interesting to see the disparity between 2 somewhat similar cities, Charleston #56 and Savannah #164. Since I live between the two maybe I should take the average….
#47 — DFW.
Yikes, the area near which I grew up is rated near the very bottom — #179. And, nearly 25 years after the fact, family members STILL wonders why I left?!
wonder, grrrr. I thought I removed the “s” before I submitted!
[b]Nobody[/b] in a major area is as happy as those of us in small towns … except maybe when y’all get to go out to non-Hollywood movies, go to the symphony or try interesting foreign cuisine.
#5. montanan,
Yes, but what about the views of the The Bridger Range, rodeos and floats down the rivers in your neck of the woods? If you live in Bozeman or Billings, you’re just a stones throw away from Yellowstone. Culture is more than just the performing and fine arts. The only problem I see with Montana is the pay scale.
I live twenty five miles from St. Louis, and I’m not surprised to see that the entire SMSA is ranked at #91–about middle-of-the pack. But if they had separately analyzed the happiness of those of us on the Illinois side of the river…God’s country, the Diocese of Springfield…I believe the rating would have been much higher. I have lived in a large college town, a small Midwestern county seat town (for the last twenty years) and a major city, and I truly believe that small town life is most conducive to happiness and mental health.
I have lived in a small rural town, and in a medium-sized college town, and in a big city, and in a very different big city. Personally, I vastly prefer the big city, but only if it’s the right big city.
#91 – St. Louis/Illinois
I live 52 miles north of St. Louis. It is about where I expected. I am perhaps less satisfied than most of the residents of my community, but then I am a big city/suburb kind of person. I am amazed that one of my all-time favorite places, Chicago-Naperville-Joliet is only one spot higher at #90, and my least favorite place I’ve ever lived is #9 – Odgen-Clearfield, UT. Amazing!
#7 KevinBabb
I agree that you DO live in an ideal community – small town, yet convenient to everything; small town feel, yet suburban amenities. It is to your community that I go when I need an urban infusion.
#6 Dcn Dale – yes, it is amazing around here. I won’t trade it for anything unless/until God calls me elsewhere, just as He initially called me here against my will. 🙂
#10 Anglican-at-heart – a friend who lived in my smallish town used to call occasional weekends in cities “urban renewal”. 🙂
#11 montanan
I love it -thanks!
I think we need to move to England where [url=http://stossel.blogs.foxbusiness.com/2010/02/15/entitled-to-a-five-bedroom-house/ ]John Stossel is reporting[/url] that welfare moms are [i]entitled[/i] to five bedroom houses. That’s the life of Riley! Work is a four letter word. (I might have a hard time convincing the British government that I am a welfare mom, though.)
I think that the common denominator for the “happiest and healthiest” cities on the list is simply a younger population. It appears they didn’t stratify for age which people really can’t control.
Greetings from central London. I always remember the comment of a Franciscan friend who was transferred to a remote, tranquil and beautiful part of the English countryside, with stunning views: ‘All you hear all day long is birds singing. It gets on your nerves.’